Transmission mechanism.



R. HERMAN.

TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLIcATIoN FILED JAN. 2a, 41909.

Patented Dec. 6, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R. HERMAN.

IHHHIIIII Patented Dec. 6, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Rl HERMAN.

TRANSMISSION MEGHANISM. ABPLIUTION FILED JAN. ze, 1909.

Patented Dec. 6, 1910.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEBT 3.

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UNITED sTA'rEs PATENT oEEic.,

REINHOLD HERMAN, OF GRAFTON', PENNSYLVANIA.

TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, REINHoLD HERMAN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Grafton, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTransmission Mechanism, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawmg. a

My invention relates to improvements in transmission mechanism and hasparticular relation to mechanism for operatively connecting the motor tothe driven shaft through speed changing mechanism.

In devices of this type now in general use for this purpose, it is thepractice to'place the transmission or change speed mechanismintermediate the motor and the beveled gear which operates the driveshaft; this construction is disadvantageousby reason of the' fact thatthe friction and stress placed' on the beveled gear by the powertransmitted through the transmission gearing to the beveled gear variesto such an extent as to .produce a rapid wearing out or stripping of thebeveled gear connection due to the compounding of theV gears in thetransmission gearing which results in placing an uneven stress on thebeveled gear structure. This will be readily understood from the factthat when the motor is connected direct to the beveled gear of thedriven shaft and eX- erting a power, for instance, equal to l0 horsepower, the compounding of the gears of the transmission mechanismincreases the power stress on the beveled gear with the exact ratio inwhich the gears are compounded, so that the constant changing of themechanism in use produces the variations in stress and strain on thebeveled gear structure carried by the driven shaft.

The present invention eliminates this disadvantage and by providing astructure in which the drive connect-ion from the motor to the beveledgear is maintained at a con- .stant pressure, the compounding factorpre- Specification of Letters *Patent Application filed January 28,1909.

serial No. 474,828.

extending in parallelism with each other, instead of being inclined aswhere beveled gears are in use.

Myinvention therefore has for its principal object the provision of atransmission mechanism in which the speed changing structure is locatedintermediate the beveled gear connection from the motorand the driven ordifferential shaft.

A further object is to provide a speed changing mechanism in which aiioating connector shaft provides the means for engaging any desiredseries of gears within the mechanism. y

A further object of the invention is to provide a speed changingmechanism in which the differential shaft forms one of the ele' ments.

A furtherobject is to provide a speed changing mechanism in which thegears are in constant mesh and in which one set of axially alined gearsare mounted to move in unison, the gears co-acting therewith beingindependently 1novable,whereby the movement of either one of said set ofgears will impart movement to all gears meshing with the entire set.

A further object of the invention is to provide a speed changingmechanism in which the low speed gear carried by the driven shaft formsa driving element for the driven shaft when the direction of movement ofthe driven shaft is reversed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structure whichcarries thedifferential mechanism and the shafts connected to saiddifferential mechanism, said structure forming the bearings for theshafts and the journals upon which the differential structure ismounted.

A further object is to provide a housing is hereinafter disclosed, myinvention con-l sists 1n the improved construction and com- PatentedDec. 6, 1910.

bination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar reference charactersindicate similar parts in each of the view/s, Figure 1 is a view of thecasing shown in Fig. 2, portions of the casing being broken away for thepurpose of illustrating the interior mechanism. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vert-icalcross-sectional view taken on the line X-X of Fig. 2, and, Fig. 4 is adetail view of the rack bar and segment for operating the floatingshaft.

In the drawings, the drive shaft is designated as A and the driven ordiferential shaft in which is mounted the differential gearing, isdesignated as B. The shaft A is positively driven by the motor and isfree from any transmission gear structure for changing speedintermediate the point where the shaft enters the casing presentlydescribed to this point lof connection with the motor. The shaft B is asplit or divided shaft as is usual in shafts where a differentialmechanism forms a part of the shaft structure, and said shaft B 'may beconnected directly with the parts to be driven, as for instance, thedrive wheels of an automobile where the device is employed in automobilestructures, or may be connected by chain or other transmission meanswith the regular drive shaft of such parts, the main feature beingtoprovide within a casing, parts permanently lcarried by the casing forimparting a direct driving movement to the parts to be driven from themotor shaft. The construction of the shaft B and the differentialgearing mounted therein forms no essential portion of the presentinvention, any suitable gearing having a shaft extending through and atdirect right'angles tothe plane of the axis of the driven shaft beingcapable of use with the present device, the ,drawing showing, in thisrespect, a con- .ventional form of differential gear structure.

1'0 designates a casing preferably formed o f three sections, 10a, 10",and 10, the Section 10a providing the 'support for the gears coperatingwith the floating shaft presently described= while the sections 1()b and10c, which are substantial duplicates of each other. form bearings forthe driven or differential shaft and the gears carried thereby, thethree sections being suitably bolted together to form a substantiallyclosed casing to effectively exclude dirt etc.

The section 10'r1 of the casing is formed with a bearing 11 throughwhich the drive shaft A extends, the drive shaft being preferablyreduced in diameter at. the point where it passes through the bearing11. The inner end? of thedrive shaft carries the drive pinion 12,secured thereto in any preferred manner, as by a pin 13 passing throughthe shaft and the hub of the pinion. The section 10n is provided at itsends with bearings. let which are in longitudinal alinement, saidbearings being adapted to receive the floating shaft 15 which has itsaxial length extending in a direction at direct right angles to the axisofthe drive shaftA. Extending inwardly from the wall of the section 10aare four bearings 16, these bearings having their bearing surfacesarranged concentric with the periphery of the oating shaft 15, saidbearings being in axial alinement to provide alined bearing surfaces.The bearings are of any suitable type, being supported from the wall ofthe section casing 1()a in suitable manner as by a web 16, it beingunderstood of course, that the form of the bearing will be such as topermit of t-he ready insertion of the parts supported thereby.

Mounted within the central bearings 16 is a beveled gear 17, the hub ofwhich is in the form of an open-ended cylinder extending from oppositesides of the gear to provide an elongated portion, the opposite ends ofwhich are mounted wit-hin the said bearings 16, the hub being providedwith annular collars 18 which serve to prevent axial movement of the huband gear. The gear 17 is adapted to mesh with the pinion 12 of the driveshaft A. On opposite ,sides of the hub of the beveled gear 17 and inaxial alinement therewith are hubs of gear wheels 19, 20, 21 and 22,said hubs also being cylindrical in forinand adapted, when the entireset of gears is interposed, to provide an internal passage-way circularin cross section and extending. from one end of the set of gears to theopposite end, the interior of the gears, which forms the outer wall ofsuch passage-way being concentric with the circumference of the floatingshaft 15 which extends through such passage-way. The gears 19 and 20,which serve as the intermediate and high speed gears of the speedchanging mechanism respectively, are located on one side of the beveledgear 17, while the gear wheels 21 and 22, whichV respectively serve asthe low speed and reversing drive gear of the mechanism are on theopposite side of the gear 17'.

The oating shaft 15 is provided with radially extending projectingportions or lugs 23 and 23aL arranged circumferentially about the shaftand of a radial length slightly less than the distance between theperiphery of the shafts 15 and the normal inner face of the hubs ofthegears. The lugs 23 and 23a are spaced apart' a distance sufficient toplace the planes ofthe,` outer edges of the two sets of lugs insubstantial alinement with the ends of the hub of the beveled gear 17when the shaft is placed in such position as to disconnect the gears 17i ao from the speed changing mechanism. To provide for engagement of thelugs 23 and 23L with the hub of the gear 17, I provide within said hubradially extending recesses 24, ruiming from one end to the other of thehub, the walls ofthe recesses forming inwardly-extending portions orlugs between adjacent shaft lugs, said inwardly extending portion havinga radial length slightly less than the distance between' the peripheryof the shaft 15 and the normal inner face (the larger inner diameter)4of the hub of said gear. This construction provides a connection for thegears 17 andshaft 15 which prevents any relative movement pivotally,without actual contact-of said gear and the shaft, excepting such as maybe provided by the sides of the lugs and the side walls of the recesses24 of t-he hub, there being no actual radial connection of these parts.iAnd since said recesses extend from end to end of theI gear 17, theshaftl 15 is permitted free movement axially of the hub withoutliability of disengagement of said parts.

Each of the gears 19,20, 21 and 22 are provided with similar recesses24, said recesses however, being of less length than the axial length ofthe hub of its gear, thereby providing in each hub a portion which willco-act with saidlugs and a circumferential space within which said lugsmay be freely rotated without engaging the gear wit'hm which such lugmay be located. The recesses 24 of the gears are located on the side ofthe hub in close proximity to the hub of the gears 17 By thisconstruction, it will be seen that, with the drive shaft A constantlyrotating under the action of the motor, the pinion 12 will impart aconstant movement to the gear 17. If the {ioating shaft 15 be positionedin the mechanism as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the lugs 23 and 23awill lie entirely within the planes of the ends of the hub of said gear17 with the result that the constant movement of the gear 17 will imparta similar movement to the shaft 15,`but since no connection with eitherof the other gears is had when in this position, the remaining gearswill not be driven and therefore remain idle. .If however, the floatingshaft be moved to the right in Fig. 2, a distance suflicient to'causethe lugs 232L to enter into engagement with the recessed portions of thegear 21, said gear 21 will be positively driven by reason of the factthat the lugs 23 remain in operative engagement with the recessedlportions of the 'gear 17. If the movement of the shaft 15 be continueda distance sufficient to cause the recessed portions of gear 22 to beengaged by the lugs 23a, a similar result will be obtained due to thefact that the lugs 23 would still remain in operative engagement withthe gear 17, the gear 21 not being in operative engagement with eitherset of ugs drive members for the gears 19 and 20 while the lugs 23a willremain in operative connection with the gear 17 It will therefore beunderstood that the movements of the shaft 15 are such as to practicallyprovide a permanent connection between the shaft 15 and gear 17,regardless of which gear may be operated by the gear 17.

The sections 10b and 10c of thel casing are each provided with bearings25 extending inwardly and within which are mounted the ends of thedifferential-carrying frame now to be described, said sections alsohaving outwardly cylindrical portions 26 carrying the casing 27 for thedriven or differential shaft B. The differential-,carrying frame issubstantially of the form shown in section in Fig. 2 of the drawings,being preferably shell-like in structure and having at spaced intervalsinwardly extending portions forming bearings for the driven shaft B,said frame therefore serving as a journal for po- .sitioning the shaftsand differential within the casing and also as a journal to support theshaft and differential relative to the carrying frame. Thedifferentialcarrying frame designated at 28, has its intermediateportion formed to receive the shaft and the differential gears, and alsois provided, either as an integral structure therewith, or, if desiredby being bolted or otherwise secured thereto with gears 29, 30, and 31,the gear 29 meshing with the gear 19, the gear 30 meshing with the gear20, and gear 31 meshing with gear 21. Said -gear 31 as shown in Fig. 3also meshes with a pinion 32 carried by a shaft 33, on which lattershaft is mounted a gear 34 which meshes with gear 22, this latterconstruction providing for reversal of movement of the driven shaft.

It will now be understood that when the lugs 23 and 23a are in theposition shown in Fig. 2, no portion'of the mechanism will be drivenexcepting the gear 17 and shaft 15. If the shaft 15 be now moved so asto cause engagement of lugs 23a with the gear 21, the drive connectionwill be from gear 17 to shaft 15, through gear 21 to gear 31, whichlatter, being connected to the differential `shaft B, will cause saidshaft to be driven at the low speed. If it desired at this time toreverse, the shaft 15is moved to bring the lugs 23a into engagement withthe gear 22, releasing engagement of gear 21 and the shaft and providingthe driving connections through gear 22, gear 34, pinion 32 to the gear31, the latter gear in this case rotating in the opposite direction andthereby imparting a reverse movement to the driven shaft.

When the high speed or the intermediate speed is desired to be broughtinto operation, the shaft is movedv to bring the lugs 23 into operativeengagement with the gears 20 or 19 and through the gears of the frame 28meshing therewith causing the driven shaft to have its movement at thedesired speed, the relative sizes of the gears, of course, controllingthe speed.

It will be understood that while but one of the gears 19, 20, 21 or 22may be brought into action as a drive member through the lugs 23 or 23a,each of said gears will be rotated, said rotation, however, being atdifferent speeds according to the respective sizes of the gears, thisbeing due to the fact that the gears carried by the frame 28 move as aunitary struct-ure. And although the gears are each moving, this factwill not prevent the shaft and the gear from being moved into driveconnection with any of the other gears.

To provide movements of the shaft 15 in directions to permit engagementof the lugs 23 and 23a with the recessed portions of the gears, Iprovide a frame 36, the ends of which are located in axial alinementwith the shaft 15, said shaft being mounted in a manner to permit arotative movement of the shaft relative to such ends. The intermediateportion of the frame is mounted to slide in suitable brackets 37 carriedby the section 10a of the casing, and has its upper face formed as arack adapted to co-act with the sector 38 pi'votally mounted on abracket 39 carried by the casing, said sector 38 having a handle 40, bymeans of which the sec` tor may be moved on its pivot, thereby providingmeans for moving the shaft 15 axially. To control the length of movementof the handle 40, I provide a suitable segment 41 having notches 42 toreceive a latch 43 carried by the handle.

It will be readily understood that the bearing for the shaft A may belocated ata different point from that shown in Fig. 3, the particularpoint on the section 10a at which the bearing may be located beingdependent upon the point at which it is desired that the structure maybe held relative to the direction of length of the shaft A. Forinstance, the bearing may be formed at a point in which the shaft Aextends in a direction at direct right angles to that shown in Fig. 3,the bearing in this case being located at the right of section 102L asshown in Fig. 3, the mounting of the frame 36 and the parts foroperating said frame being modified accordingly to permit the connectionto be made at this point, such modified construction permitting of achange of angularity of the direction of length of the drive shaftrelative to the mechanism. v It will alsobe understood that theparticular construction and operation of the floating shaft may bemodified. For instance, said shaft may be divided and each portion ofthe shaft have independent operating mechanism for posiltioning the lugscarried thereby relative to the gears and form what may be known in theautomobile trade as the select type of transmission.

The advantages of this construction will be readily understood; amongthese are the following: the fact that there is a single element, thefloating shaft, which is required to be moved to provide the necessarydrive connections; the fact that the power pressure brought to bear onthe pinion 12 and beveled gear 17 remains unchanged regardless of thecompounding effect produced by the changes in speed; the fact that theentire speed changing mechanism is contained Within a casing carryingthe driven shaft and differential, and the durabilityv in construction,simplicity in operation, a minimum number of parts, the elimination ofnon-connected divided shafts together with the elimination of countershafts; the fact that the movements of the gears are confined entirely`to movements in a rotative direction; the fact that one of the sets ofgears moves as a unitary structure requiring no adjusting connection forbringing any one of said gears into operation; and the fact that thegear carrier for one of the sets of gears forms the support for thedriven shaft and differential.

While I have herein shown and described the preferred form ofconstruction and arrangement of parts for producing the des. i

sired results, I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myselfto such details of construction and arrangement of parts as indicated,but reserve the right to use any and all of such modifications thereofas may be found desirable in so far as such changes and modificationsmay fall within the spirit.

'forth in means non-supported by the drive and loosegears and located inpermanent drive engagement with said drive gear and movable aXiallv ofsaid loose gears for connecting the drive gear with either loose gear atwill. j 2. In power transmission mechanism, a

.nected gears, a drive shaft extending into said housing, a drive gearin permanent drive connection With'said drive shaft and axially alinedWith said loose gears, and means non-supported by the drive and loosegears and located in permanent drivefengagement with said drive gear andmovable axially of said loose gears for connecting the drive gear Witheither loose gear at Will, said means extending in parallelism With thedriven shaft.

3. In power transmission mechanism, a housing, a driven shaft Withinsaid housing, a plurality of connected gears journaled rin said housing,a differentialmechanism intermediate said shaft and connected gears,loose gears in permanent mesh With said connected gears, a drive shaftextending into said housing, a drive gear in permanent drive connectionWith said drive shaftand axially alined With said loose gears, and meansnon-supported by the drive and loose gears and located in permanentdrive engagement With said drive gear and movable axially of said loosegears for connecting the drive gear With either loose gear at Will,

said means being independent of either shaft andA extending inparallelism With the driven shaft.

4l. In power transmission mechanism, a housing, a driven shaft Withinsaid housing, a plurality of connected gears journaled in said housing,a differential mechanism in termediate said shaft and connected gears,loose gears in permanent mesh with said connected gears, a drive shaftextending into said housing, a drive gear in permanent drive connectionwith said drive shaft and axially alined With said loose gears, andmeans supported Wholly by the housing in permanent engagement With saiddrive gear and movable axially of said loose gears for connecting thedrive gear with either loose gear at will.

5. In power transmission mechanism, a housing, a driven shaft Withinsaid housing, a plurality of connected gears journaled in said housing,a differential mechanism in-,

termediate sa'id shaft and connected gears, loose `gears in permanent,mesh With said connected gears, a drive shaft extending into saidhousing, a drive gear in permanent drive connection With said driveshaft and axially alined with said loose gears, and a floating membersupported Wholly by the housing and extending axially of said alinedgears, said member being 1n permanent engagement With said drive gearand movable longitudinally to connect said drive gear with either loosegear at Will.

6. In power transmission mechanism, a housing, a driven shaft Withinsaid housing, a plurality of connected gears journaled in said housing,a differential mechanism intermediate said shaft and connected gears,loose gears in permanent mesh With said connected gears, a drive shaftextending into said housing, a drive gear in permanent drive connectionwith said drive shaft and axially alined with said loose gears, and afloating member supported Wholly by the housing and extending axially ofsaid alined gears, saidmember being in permanent engagement With saiddrive gear and movable longitudinally to connect said drive gear witheither loose gear at will, said member extending in parallelism With thedriven shaft. Y

7. In power transmission mechanism, a housing, a driven shaft Withinsaid housing, a plurality of connected gears journaled in said housing,a dizerential mechanism intermediate said shaft and connected gears,loose gears in permanent mesh with said con# nected gears, a drive shaftextending into vsaid housing, a drive' gear in permanent driveconnection With said drive shaft and axially alined With said loosegears, and a floating shaft supported Wholly by the housing andextending axially of said alined gears,- said shaftbeing in permanentengagement With said drive gear and movable longitudinally to connectsaid drive gear with either loose gear at Will, said shaft extending inparallelism with the driven shaft.

8. In power transmission mechanism, a housing, a driven shaft withinsaid housing, al plurality of connected gears journaled in said housing,a differential mechanism intermediate said shaft and connected gears,loose gears in permanent mesh with said connected gears, a drive shaftextending into said housing, a drive gear in permanent drive connectionWith said drive shaft and axially alined vvith said loose gears, andaiioating shaft supported Wholly bythe housing and extending axially ofsaid alined gears, said shaft being in permanent engagement With saiddrive gear and movable longitudinally to connect said drive gear witheither loose gear at will, said shaft extending in parallelism With thedriven sha-ft, said shaft andv alined gears having comple mentalconfigurations to provide the selective connection.

9. In transmission mechanism, a drive shaft,l a driven shaft, a housingthrough which said driven shaft extends, a gear in constant driveconnection With the drive shaft and provided With internal Ways, ashiftable shaft journaled in said housing, said latter shaft having aconstant drive en. gagement with -said gear, looselymounted gears insaid housing, gears mounted on said driven shaft and with Which thelooselyywhich the independently-journaled gears are Vconstantly engaged,and means carried by the shiftable shaft to engage with theindependently-journaled gears and impart movement to said driven shaft.

l11. In combination, a driven shaft, a housing through which said drivenshaft extends, and gears on said shaft Within the housing, a driveshaft, a gear in the housing in constant engagement with the driveshaft, a shiftable shaft journaled in said housing and in constant driveconnection With said gear, independently-journaled gears in t-he housingin constant mesh With the gearsl on said driven shaft, means on theshiftable shaft for engagement With the independently-mounted gears atdifferent positions of the shiftable shaft, said sliiftable shaft eX-tending beyond the housing at both ends, and shifting means engaging theends of said shaft.

12. In power transmission mechanism, a driven shaft, a housing throughwhich said driven shaft extends, a differential mechanism,permanently-connected gears on said driven shaft within the housing,independently-journaled gears, a drive shaft in permanentdriveconnection with one of said independently-journaled gears, a shiftingshaft journaled in the housing and having a constant drive engagementwith the gear 'driven from the drive shaft, said shifting shaft havingshifting means to select any one of the independently-journaled gears toimpart motion through the permanently-connected gears on the drivenshaft.

13. In power transmission mechanism, a

Masai driven shaft, a housing through which said driven shaft extends, adifferential mechanism, perinanently-connected gears on said drivenshaft Within the housing, independently-journaled gears, a drive shaftin permanent drive connection With one ofl said independently-journaledgears, a shifting shaft j ournaled in the housing and having aconstantdrive engagement With the gear driven from the drive shaft, and shiftingmeansA for said shifting shaft, said means being movable to select anyone of the independently-journaled gears to impart motion through thepermanently-connected gears on the driven shaft.

14. Power transmission mechanism comprising a drive shaft, a drivenshaft spaced therefrom, permanently-positioned gears movable With saiddriven shaft, loose gears in permanent mesh and corresponding in numberto said driven shaft gears, a loose gear in permanent drive connectionWith the drive shaft and axially alined With the loose gears, and meanspermanently-positioned out of contact With either shaft foroperatively-connecting either of said loo-se gears with said alineddrive gear,.said loose gears being axially alined and each having anaxial length sufficient toA provide both drive and free rotativemovements of said means relative t-o the gear, said means being movablein directions axially of the loose gears.

15. In power transmission mechanism, a

drive shaft, a driven shaft, and drive connections between said shafts,said connections including adjacent alined gears independently rotatableand adapted to provide movements to the driven shaft in oppositedirections, a single gear in constant drive connection With the driveshaft, and means in permanent drive connection With saidconstantly-driven gear and movable to provide drive connections bet-Weensaid gear and the driven shaftA through either of said alined gears.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of tvvoWitnesses.

REINHOLD HERMAN. Witnesses:

A. M. WILSON, .N. LOUIS BoGAs.

